Campion Center Programs

Montserrat was founded half-a-century ago to promote holiness among the laity. Retreatants came from the parishes well instructed and prepared to pray in silence. All they really needed was a place to come to and some spiritual guidance. Montserrat supplied that.         

Montserrat has felt the Church change in the decades begun by Vatican II. Now retreatants come from parishes where lay men and women minister at the altar, work on the staff, counsel, and serve in other ways. What many really need now is a formation beyond what has been enough. Montserrat has begun supplying that.

Montserrat has seen dioceses grow in size and immigrant population. Where once the Jesuits’ focused only on the campus, now we reach out. Advised by the bishops, we have committed ourselves to this urgent need. Now Jesuits of Montserrat lead prayer, teach spirituality, and form ministers where the Church needs them, and in more languages than one.

Montserrat has also felt Catholics grappling with difficult shifts in both American culture and globalization. They continue to cherish the silent retreat. Now, though, maturely educated laity feel the need to explore issues together and to share faith and hope. In the tangles of culture and belief, they need both silent prayer and also mutual exploration with friends in the Lord.

Montserrat is responding to the needs of the Church and her people through the silent retreat and now through the retreat workshops, days of prayers, and formation programs of the Campion Spirituality Center.